Mamercus (praenomen)

Mamercus (Latin pronunciation: [maˈmɛrkʊs]), feminine Mamerca, is a Latin praenomen, or personal name, which was used in pre-Roman times and throughout the Roman Republic, falling out of usage in imperial times. The patronymic gens Mamercia was derived from this name, as were the cognomina Mamercus and Mamercinus. The name was usually abbreviated Mam.^[1][2]

The praenomen Mamercus is best known from gens Aemilia, one of the greatest of the patrician houses at Rome. The gens claimed descent from Mamercus, who was said to have been a son of Numa Pompilius, the second king of Rome. Several prominent members of this family bore the name during the Roman Republic. The Pinarii, another patrician family, was also believed to have used the praenomen Mamercus, although no examples from this gens have been preserved. According to one tradition, the Pinarii were descended from another son of Numa Pompilius. However, in his history of Rome, Titus Livius records that the gens was still more ancient, and predated the founding of the city.^[3][4]

Both the Aemilii and the Pinarii used Mamercus and Mamercinus as cognomina. Other families which used these names as cognomina may have used the praenomen Mamercus at one time.^[5]